So wealthy have the network to find the job that is stable and pays well while less well off don't. It's nice to see this quantified but still less than groundbreaking. If this can be converted into ROI numbers for schools, job income and tuition.. that might be interesting.

10:01 pm May 2, 2014

William J Brown wrote:

But *where* are all these law jobs, regardless of the cohort of data you're examining? There is that much demand that all but 25% of 2013's law school class has jobs "in law" at this point? Seems really unlikely.

7:05 am May 3, 2014

VENDA GRL wrote:

MANY PPL R JOBLESS

9:16 am May 3, 2014

John Sterling wrote:

There are too many law school graduates and not enough jobs.

And many law schools are hiring their own students in part to game the US News rankings system and skew their employment numbers.

9:39 am May 3, 2014

Anonymous wrote:

this is something I don't understand, how can there be law school graduates without jobs.. when lawyers out there demand a huge amount per hour for anything you wanna do and when the congress makes law, the states make law, and every other institution in between makes law..
something crooked must be going on in these schools or these graduates should have no problem getting business at much lower rates than the existing firms are asking.
I guess, there is 'market driven economy' and there is 'market driven economy'.. sometimes, the so called market just doesn't work.

10:51 am May 3, 2014

Anonymous wrote:

Well DUH! It's a situation similar to the top tier MBA programs too.

11:05 am May 3, 2014

Obamanation wrote:

This disparity is unacceptable. The most capable must be handcuffed so the incompetent can be their equals.

11:27 am May 3, 2014

Michael B wrote:

That isn't just a law school issue. It's a schooling issue in general. If you go to some mediocre program, expect mediocre results more likely than not. If you go to a top program, expect better opportunities. Its that simple. With that said, go figure why I joined the Army as an Air Traffic Controller to pay for college a few years ago. My undergrad is currently being paid for so I am going to have no debt whatsoever. As for my graduate degree, that will come in time and although I will pay out of pocket, my disability will cover that in full whether I go to USC or USD or stay at SDSU being the absolute worst case scenario. If major firms don't scout at your university (i'm in Accounting), you don't want to go there.

12:17 pm May 3, 2014

Anthony Aaron wrote:

The stats are somewhat meaningless to me -- the top 25% of law schools vs all law schools.

Far more meaningful stats might have been to compare the top 10 or so law schools to all 201 law schools. Those figures would have more likelihood of being significant in telling a story of a 'gulf between elite and the best.'

To me, top 25% of anything is hardly 'elite.'

12:52 pm May 3, 2014

jhawkinstx wrote:

And, still no one looks at the bias in the admission policies of these law schools. These are not necessarily as "elite", as lucky. The other 20% that had better testing scores but were not admitted for social engineering reasons are looking for jobs.

1:05 pm May 3, 2014

LowInformationCollegeDemocrat wrote:

This inequality most end! Obviously, this is a result of white privilege and a patriarchal society! The solution is to neuter all male babies at birth so there will be no more wars!

6:12 pm May 3, 2014

Henry Miller wrote:

We have about 100 law schools too many. Plus there is no reason law school has to be anything other than an undergraduate degree like chemistry, accounting or engineering. About 20 doctoral level law schools and 80 undergrad ones would be more than enough. Most families need affordable lawyers; the big corporations are another matter. Two tiered? Of course. Its already multi-tiered anyways - the top schools, and the run of the mill schools. So let's make the run of the mill schools more affordable, in time and money, and close the substandard and redundant ones.

6:34 pm May 3, 2014

Anonymous wrote:

It's a self-fulfilling prophecy, especially with the big firms. It has nothing to do with the quality of students from the lower ranked schools.

10:05 pm May 3, 2014

Anthony Alfidi wrote:

America has most of the world's lawyers, and most of them are superfluous.

6:39 pm May 4, 2014

RestatingTheObvious wrote:

So, graduates of top law schools have a significantly higher employment rate than graduates of lower-tier schools? I'm shocked! SHOCKED! Seriously, is this really news to anyone? As a lawyer myself, when I am asked by people who are considering applying to law school, I tell them that it only makes sense if they can get into a top-tier school (which means top 20, not top 50) unless they are willing to accept the prospect of being unemployeed with a pile of debt. I've given that same advice for the last 20 years.

3:48 pm May 13, 2014

Anonymous wrote:

The disparity is lauded by Republicans as proof that the elite are deserving. It’s part of the reason why they oppose affirmative action and fight against better schools and education.

Not everyone, they reason, can get a good education. In the kind of society they envision, there must be those who will serve the elite. Not everyone can be permitted to the club.

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